Weakness For
by ChronicallyinFlaming
Summary: Shepard decides to stop by Liara's apartment on Illium and spend the night. For sake of the mission. And for sake of a free place to sleep. Officially, at least.


**The Prompt:**

_**FemShep/Liara: First Time Oral Please?**_

_I've seen others include this in their fills before, and I've written a scene with it myself, but this anon has a weakness for fics where FemShep goes down on Liara for the very first time. Liara is nervous and insecure about it at first, but quickly gets over that fear because it feels so. damn. good. _

_So... I am humbly requesting more of this. Please?_

_It can be as kinky or fluffy and sweet as you want. I love it all_

**The Fill:**

* * *

Shepard showing up on her doorstep after two years spent dead had Liara scrambling to find the right words to say. Something that would show she was not at all shocked at this figure before her, and that she completely was able to comprehend the fact of her existence again.

"Commander."

That she had no spent months trying to come to terms with the human's death. Then struggling over the fact that Cerberus might bring her back. Since what were the odds, it was impossible, absurd, probably a lie.

_No, Shepard, I did not spent these two years pining miserably and wishing only that you were back here, to make everything alright as you always do._

Jane simply stood there. Here. Again, again before Liara, though this time soaking wet. Her hair, still that shade of red, clung to her face and water fell from her dark armor to darken Liara's carpet. The face polite as she watched her friend deal with her shock.

"Wait here. Let me get you a towel." While trying not to enjoy this sickening possessive thrill that went through her. Shepard, in her home, looking almost if not fragile, at least younger and lost. Standing there, alive and healthy and looking around. Everything in this apartment now grew in importance.

"Sorry. I'm really sorry about this." White teeth in that freckled face, beneath those dark, pert lips. It had been too long since she'd seen that smile, and too much time wasted thinking about it. Liara moved away from the human. "I'm on shore leave, and sort of lost. I was sort of hoping to avoid the Normandy for a little while. And you're the only person I know around here. The hotels here are not crazy about me."

"Any of them?" Something inside flinched, wishing she could so easily drop her use of cold words to dissuade anyone from talking to her for too long. The years spent at the university, dodging others and avoiding eye contact came in handy when she thought someone might be displaying too much attention. Wanting something that wasn't entirely understood but in the vaguest of ways.

It sounded ungrateful, unfriendly, to say something like that to Shepard. Liara wanted to take it back. As well as be the one to wipe the rain off Shepard. Maternal caring had never been a major concern in her life; she was not the sort to find herself caring and fretting for others as other asari did. Around their partners, usually.

The white towel went to her head, rubbing in a way that even Liara knew would leave her hair a mess. "Not after what Grunt and Jack did to the last room appeared on the news."

"I see."

"But I definitely do not want to be a problem for you. So I'm just here to ask politely if you could get the Shadow Broker to threaten some hotel manager to help out a spectre."

That voice alone could make her forget unease, and years slipped away. "Shepard, you're staying here. There's plenty of room."

"Even for Grunt and Jack?"

"Well. Perhaps not that much room."

"I suppose they can stay on the Normandy, for now." Gorgeous, that smile. Hair wild. She wanted to stick a strand of that hair into her mouth and suck the water out. Would those eyes widen in shock, in shock and horror? What are you doing? Would she turn her head, flinch, move away or closer?

Aboard the Normandy II, Shepard had still to take up anyone's offer of further companionship, be they from an old or new friend.

"Let me get you another towel. Maybe some dry clothes. You can take off your armor."

"God. Your apartment's so nice. I'm afraid to touch anything. You got that bullet hole fixed up, even."

Shepard, in her apartment in this growing-late night. Undressing. At her command. Unembarrassed and unhesitant. But not rushing, as though just teasing Liara. Who was trying to move away, and not simply stare and regret the lack of cameras in this room.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I have anything that will fit you, Shepard." And that wasn't entirely a lie.

Jane simply shrugged. And still removed her armor. "I'm alright."

If she wanted you, Liara, she would have told you so when you were aboard the Normandy. When you were there for a drink, and nothing inappropriate happened. Nothing's changed for Jane. Except for collecting model ships. And those fish. Still otherwise the same.

"Are you hungry? There's plenty in the kitchen." Better than the food supplied from the Alliance, though it was possible Jane wouldn't like anything inside. Probably allergic to some of the asari dishes.

"Only if you eat with me."

"Fine. But you're not imposing on me, Shepard."

"Really. I can tell you were just relaxing. That's why your terminal is full of flashing red lights. And you have three half-empty cups of coffee on that table. What's with the ashtray? And the lighters? Did you take up smoking?"

Liara's shrug was awkward, reminded of being reprimanded by her mother for biting fingernails, playing with her hands, avoiding eyes, as a child.

The grin aimed at her was oddly rakish and toothy. Warming Liara from the pit of her stomach to her crests, as some siren went off in her head: watch yourself.

"You've definitely changed."

As strange as seeing her back, and on Illium, Shepard cleaning up her normally sterile apartment was definitely the most disorienting part of the night. Removed of her armor, she looked much smaller. Especially around her shoulders. Just a normal woman with damp hair clumped around her neck and ears stacking datapads. Wonderfully muscled and with freckles that only made her look younger. Against the backdrop of books, she almost looked like a student. Someone that Liara might have met in a kinder life, there on perhaps Thessia or Serrice to study asari…commandos? Architecture? Medicine? There, regardless of her exact major, and perhaps needing a study partner one late night and finding Liara at a table hidden away.

_Hold that thought for later. Much later._

What would Shepard be like anyway, if she had never entered the Alliance?

_That one as well._

She nearly burned herself, cooking and watching Shepard. Even in picking up books scattered around, the Commander was graceful. Lit from the light above, she was trying to put up those books in alphabetical order, only to be thrown off by the ones in unfamiliar languages. Shepard, in her apartment and touching her things.

Liara was definitely a blushing maiden of no more than fifty when the spectre was near her. Left a little breathless, like she was experiencing her first crush on an older student, decades before and utterly meaningless.

After everything, this was what she wanted. Perhaps even more than simply for the war to end. To just see Jane here, pushing back her hair, the scars from Cerberus healing, sitting in this room and waiting for her. Wearing only what Liara had so rarely seen her in, and looking like any polite guest.

Liara turned back to the food. Yes. Nothing that helpfully Shepard was allergic to that she hadn't been able to find in any holovids or dossiers.

"You need any help setting up?"

"You could put the plates out."

"I can definitely do that." The soft sound of her hands coming together and brushing, as she jumped up.

Shepard, in her kitchen, eating with her. Wearing nearly skintight clothes, dark and flexible. What had she been planning on wearing, during her shore leave? Her armor, every day? Or had she dropped her bag somewhere? The woman popped the cork on the wine, and something about that nearly had Liara spilling soup onto the floor. The strength in those hands. Had Cerberus done something to make her more physically powerful? Even pouring wine Shepard could make into an art.

Though, she was a sloppy eater, one who'd learned to grab meals in-between going out on shooting ranges and missions. Licking at her spoon, unself-conscious and tearing about bread with her bare fingers. Crumbs all over. Liara took a delight in watching her devour the food.

It shouldn't have been an attractive sight. Goddess help her. Liara made sure to avoid drinking more wine than what was polite.

"This is great. I haven't had such fresh food in a long time."

"Really, I'm not much of a cook."

Shepard drained her glass. "It's _great_. Thanks for all this. You didn't have to go through all this effort for me."

"You're my friend. And now that I'm the Shadow Broker, I'm not sure how many people I'd like to invite up here."

"You don't have to lock yourself away. Or, better yet, lock yourself away in the Normandy. With all of us."

"You know—"

"You can't." A heaving sigh. Disappointment beneath that crinkled hair that was a red-orange in the sunshine and had Liara wishing that it was suddenly day. "Maybe it's safer that way."

"For me?"

"For the crew."

Liara smiled, and decided not to overthink her pouring Jane another glass of wine. "For that, I think you'll miss out on dessert."

"Oh, c'mon, Shadow Broker, not even you are that cruel."

She had more freckles beneath the right eye than the left. That was worth a bowl of ice cream to find out, on the whole.

Shepard. On her couch, watching the news with her. Touching her knee. All friendly. It had been, laughing and talking about old days and what her new crew members were like, and then a bare hand on her knee, moving up for just half a second. Jane, still smiling, patting her knee. As one would do for a comrade. This was Shepard, who'd once gotten drunk and wrestled with Garrus and head-butted Wrex. Friendly and charming and always having to apply more medigel.

The woman she'd been in love with for years. Touching her.

Practically whispering, "Funny, how everyone's still ignoring the things that regularly try to kill me. No, let's just look at the latest in fall fashions."

Pathetic, that she was practically melting into the couch from that contact. From that voice. Liara could literally feel her legs sliding apart, just an inch or two. It wasn't enough that she'd traveled across the galaxy for Shepard's body in hopes of having her return, or that she'd become the Shadow Broker in hopes of helping Jane, putting her ahead of her morality, or her guilt and fear of what might go wrong. There wasn't enough to receive Shepard's attention, enough of her. Not enough in her to finally move past her feelings for the spectre.

She was wrong about reading too much into even this.

Jane probably just wanted non-violent contact from someone she trusted. Someone she could joke with, since Shepard was not Liara's CO anymore, and could be trusted not to lose respect seeing the Commander having too much wine, perhaps.

A good friend.

"God, Liara, the view is even nicer at night."

_Squeezing_ her knee. Definitely moving up, just a little. How was it possible her voice was so calm?

The wine. Liara clung to that. Influence of alcohol. Most of the bottle had now slid past that mouth and was warming Jane and making her forget her better judgment.

There was a hole in Shepard's right dark regulation sock, and that broke her heart in some inexplicable way. If only it was some maternal instinct to care for the woman, rather than a sense of possession. She wanted to buy Jane socks, not only to make sure that she wouldn't get blisters and experience pain, but to know that Jane was out there, saving the galaxy and wearing socks that Liara had bought her.

More than once, she'd found herself with a familiar blue hand between her legs, touching, playing with herself, unable to resist. It would end only in disappointment and a cold shower. Foolish, to give into that when there would be no relief without a meld. Which only made her remember touching Shepard's mind, and only led to more headaches and a finger pressing into that spot, wanting relief that would not come.

Now Shepard's hand was inches from where she would touch herself. A measurable distance. She could barely look at the human woman. If Liara did, she would end up begging her touch her, to fuck her using her tongue and mouth, for them to meld again, for…

That thumb was tracing circles. Liara could nearly fall into her lap, press herself into that chest. Perhaps fake unconsciousness. She _was_ tired. When was the last time she'd slept through a night? Jane would keep her awake, though. There was a peace to having the Commander nearby, but it also seemed to be driving her insane. Another day of relying on stims. But Jane might leave soon, and what else could she do but soak up any second around her?

"Hm. It's getting late."

Those green eyes were far too close. Had Jane scooted closer, or had Liara been drawn in?

"I guess this is a little like a slumber party. With less pillow fights though. I might try tickling you later though.

"We should go camping sometime. Make some s'mores, have a dangerous bonfire, share some sleeping bags.

"Uh, speaking of which, I'll sleep out here, on one of these couches. Is that alright?"

"Of course. Let me get you some blankets." Then she had to practically stumble up the stairs and back down. Trying not to pant or touch Shepard as she did so.

They even brushed their teeth together, Jane grinning around the spare toothbrush Liara had found for her. Amused by this, as Liara tried not to choke. More cozy domestic scenes that were now trapped in the Shadow Broker's mind. She seemed a little taller now, Liara thought. Had Cerberus done that too? Had even that been tampered with? There was no part of Shepard that hadn't been inspected and probably handled by gloved surgeons that wouldn't care about her old scars as they patched her together.

The hug before Shepard went down the stairs to the couch cemented that this was nothing romantic. One-armed and stiff. If it lasted too long, that was because it had been years since Liara had experienced such contact. Unfamiliar. Her imagination made something out of the lips brushing against her forehead as Jane thanked her again.

"It's nothing. The least I could do."

Now she was expected to sleep. Liara had a feeling that if she kept tossing and turning, Shepard going to come in here and check on her. A crazed part wanted that, to actually remove her clothes and ask the Commander to come in here. Just to see the reaction, to know that Jane had actually seen her naked. Would that spur Shepard into touching her again? Would she find any interest in those eyes? She was just lying here, on this modest bed that would definitely fit two comfortably, hearing every sound in this apartment. Hearing Jane shifting downstairs.

She could feel that hand on her knee.

When she saw Shepard's form standing there, Liara was half convinced it was just her hormone-drenched mind conjuring up a vivid fantasy. One she'd gladly give into, if not for enough self-awareness that reminded her of how little it would actually help.

Just standing there, looking at her. It made the asari recall old childhood nightmares of monsters, of the Ardat-Yakshi, of warnings Benezia had told of her melding with the wrong person and what might happen—with Liara always the victim and never the perpetrator, despite also being a pure-blood. Only the hair upset the old memories. There was no asari Matriarch in yellow to flee to tonight and have scare this monster away.

"Great aquarium."

"Thank you."

Shepard, standing in the doorway of her bedroom, looking at her on the bed. Resting against the doorway.

"You have a nice place here. A lot of couches."

"Thanks. I rented it furnished. Partially."

She was resting on one leg, hitting her ankles together as a waiting child might. Bare feet. "Is it alright that I'm here, Liara?"

"I asked you to stay here. Otherwise I would have gotten a hotel room for you."

"I nearly ran into a truck on the way here. Two. Again."

Liara couldn't see what that had to do with anything. Or how Shepard had been so thoughtless a driver when not chasing someone. "Why?"

"Because I was coming here."

"That doesn't explain anything, Shepard."

"Is it okay that I'm in your place?"

"Yes. I alright told you that."

"I mean, that I'm _here_." A step closer towards her bed. Those eyes blazed green from that pale face. Once, she'd tried to count every freckle on Shepard's face, only to grow distracted by the shape of her nose or color of her lips before she'd reached the halfway mark. No wonder so many people had teased her about Jane.

"In my apartment? You're always welcome here."

Another step. "In your bedroom?" The voice husky, dark as smoke.

"As I said, you're always welcome here." Liara could practically see shapes with every blink, blossoming there. Impossible to explain the full extent of her feelings, as ever. She was being smothered by Shepard, just two feet past her doorway. Three. Four. Five. Please. Another step, and she could smell Jane, some sweat, cologne beneath, of dinner on her breath, and rain and dust on her clothes. Breathing and sounding animal-like. Real. She's here.

The bed creaking as she'd hardly noticed before. This solid body in her bed. Another person in her bed. Knees hitting her calves. Shepard was unafraid in this, as everything else. "And _here_?"

Liara's hands found damp hair. "Always."

Dizzy. A brief moment where she couldn't fill her lungs or look away. They just stayed like that for a brief, brief moment.

Shepard fell into her. Their shoulders hitting, noses bumping, searching for each other's mouths in the darkness. Her tongue ran over a dry mouth, tasting sweat over the upper lip. They were both already ready to begin panting, even as their mouths sealed around each other. Then the Commander was pulling her lips away, gasping for ari. She could feel Jane's hands over her hips, squeezing almost painfully. She had never been so close to another person, and wished that she had more experience, that she wasn't making a fool out of herself. Just holding her head, touching those ears while Jane sought for her mouth. Shepard's tongue in her mouth, wet and gentle. Sliding away as she taunted Liara to let a pathetic whine escape her mouth.

"Sorry. Am I crushing you?"

"Yes. But I don't mind."

An eternity of only being conscious of her mouth and how Shepard's own felt. They both seemed increasingly swollen, which she hadn't known would happen. Like an allergic allergy. When she ran her tongue against Jane's lower lip, the Commander gave a startled, startling little shudder that broke them apart. Jane, moving away, leaving Liara as she sat back.

"You taste like coffee, and mint." That laugh, with her _voice_.

This time, Liara was the one to kiss her.

Then the first to remove the top of Shepard's clothes, still somewhat damp. The sight of Jane naked from the waist up was one that she took in for the slightest second, before lowering her head to kiss the tip of her right breast, already stiffened. Cold, or just aroused already? She was making noises as Liara touched the other, running her thumb around the nipple. Feeling every bump of the pebbled flesh.

Then Shepard was pulling her hands away, growing, reaching for Liara's shirt. "I need you." Without emphasis. Another cold fact in their lives.

Jane on her, touching her stomach, kissing her, hands moving up. _Straddling_ her, and rubbing herself against the asari. Both groaning when their center's touching, grinding, thoughtless and practically bruising. Her own hands hadn't compared to Shepard's rougher ones cupping her breasts and teasing her nipples against a light thumb. Liara had to grab that red hair, trying to keep her sanity still.

"Fuck, Liara. You have no idea how badly I need you right now. What I want to do to you."

A mouth on her collarbone.

"Shepard. Have you done this before?"

In the darkness with Shepard, on her bed, talking. As though this were normal for both of them.

"It's been awhile. A_ long_ awhile. I've never even kissed anyone since I've been brought back. Though, I have been groped by a few asari."

"You have?" Alarming, to hear her voice drop so low.

"I'm like catnip to you guys, what can I say?" Her tongue, giving Liara's neck a soft lick. Their hips meeting, gently.

Liara's nails went to Jane's back, nearly digging into that soft white skin. "I have no idea what that is."

There was nothing but a calm confidence to the way she undressed Liara. Naked beneath the human woman, feeling every part of her being taken in by that green gaze. That ease that the spectre managed to make look so easy while the asari tried to keep her heart from beating loud enough for Shepard to hear. Bad enough to be so completely new to this and afraid of accidentally tugging at that bright hair, without Jane knowing how scary this was. "I'm irresistible to you ladies."

In another time, the archeologist might have given a lecture about her monogendered species. Instead, her hand found a scar along the Commander's back that felt frankly amazing against the pads of her fingers. "You are. Your voice. Those shoulders. Your eyes."

"What? My _shoulders_?"

"Of course you're attractive, Shepard. Heads turn when you enter a room."

"Well, they turn when I shoot something anyway. But thanks." A wet kiss beneath her jawline that alone made Liara's eyes nearly roll back in her head and cling to Shepard. She'd known the back of the neck was an erogenous zone, but not the front. Had Shepard known? Had she studied asari physiology, to prepare for this night? Teeth dug into her pulse point. "Have_ you_ done this before?"

"No. Especially not with a human. I've never even thought about doing this with a human." _Except you. Over and over again. _She had to contain herself, from melding already. Shepard needed a warning beforehand, something to prepare her for that.

Shepard moved away. Moved _downward._ "And this?"

Just feeling that mouth against her stomach made her twitch. Her legs to spread, and her spine pressed uncomfortable hard into the mattress, almost at that cluster of nerves at the base. As Shepard probably knew. "No. Jane. Oh, Shepard."

"God, you're already soaked. It's on the sheets." Shepard had a grin in her voice. The vibration alone made Liara's eyes flutter. Did she know, have any clue what she could do to the person beneath her with a few simple words and kisses? Shepard was so much more experienced than her, did not even seem to hesitate over this, while Liara swallowed and wondered if she was doing this right. Lying here, and waiting, rather than speaking to Jane, or touching her? Was she being selfish? Was it at all pleasant for Shepard?

"Are you sure you're okay with this, Commander?"

At least, for once, she could exist in this moment, rather than waiting. Experience this time, as opposed to counting the minutes until it ended, and she could move on.

Jane took her fingers, and put them oddly on top of that auburn head. "Show me exactly what you want."

There were so many things, things that could perhaps only be shown through the meld and years spent joined in a union. But for now, there was one thing she wanted to feel at this exact moment. Shepard picked up on that, without even needed them to be joined. The eyes watching her were dark, almost grey, close enough to black to almost make Liara pause.

She was still nervous, still, even as Shepard reassured her that they could stop at any time. Finally moved her lips from Liara's clit to inform her, "Really, if you feel uncomfortable, just tell me to stop."

But Liara understood as well as the Commander that if they could die tomorrow or the next day, they might as well enjoy each other now. Really, if you only had twenty four hour to live, hypothetically, why not finally form a union with the person you loved? Even if Liara might be doing this wrong, that this might affect their relationship, that she had no idea how much pressure to even apply to the head in her hands, it was impossible to care. This, Liara focused on, rather than the tongue licking her, sliding into a spot that only Liara's fingers had been, swirling around her crest until she could just about scream or use her biotics to destroy something. Torture that she didn't want to end, even as she pushed a surprised Shepard away.

Her mouth still felt swollen from the kissing earlier. "Shepard! Goddess. Shepard—stop. Please."

"Huh?"

"We can't finish. Until. We meld. My race can only achieve orgasm through the union."

"That explains some things. You asari are a tragic species." Another kiss that made it hard for Liara to think clearly. "Show me."

Shepard was still half-dressed, but that didn't matter.

"Embrace-"

There were only their mouths and hands that could slide against clothes.

They fell back into the bed.

It was different this time. Not prodding at Jane's consciousness, fumbling with it while extracting the prothean vision. Now Liara pressed herself both physically and mentally against Shepard, surrounding her through the meld, while her hand brushed against the center of her, making them both shudder.

Joy. Not entirely her own. Breathless pleasure. Shock, and weightlessness. _This is _Shepard's tongue in her mouth. _I've never felt anything like this. Wonderful._

_Yes it is._

Jane was slipping out of her arms, moving back down. _Here?_

_please_

It was better than before, the application of that wet tongue, over and over again. Shepard knew exactly where to place it, how to take Liara's clit between her lips to suck on it until they were both lost. Blind and tumbling.

She was saying those words, expressing the smothering feelings, _I love you_ Finally and hating herself for doing so, even as Jane grabbed her and pulled her closer. Nearly brutal, demanding. All that she had, all she could offer, was being given to Shepard. And in exchange, Liara found that those feelings could be returned. In full, in a terrible mental grip that left her gasping and stretching out for Jane, wanting to make sure she was also feeling this.

She'd knocked over the lamp and from the way Shepard winced, possibly had kicked the other woman in the chest. Through the meld, she should have felt that pain, but everything else had been more intense. More important than a simple bruised clavicle.

From the way Jane grinned, she felt similar. A beautiful smile in that healing face that made Liara's spine slip away. "You look like you need a cigarette."

"I need you."

"Again?" Shepard was bones and freckled flesh she could hardly see. Hard muscles and a sharp eager mouth.

"Again."

Pants sliding down her hips, and somehow the sight of them still clinging to Jane was exciting. Standard issue underwear in a dark grey that reminded Liara briefly, of her stay on the Normandy and being given clothes. Her embarrassment and the Commander's blank distant stare as Liara had squirmed, and wondered what was behind that pale face.

Liara had wanted to welcome her friend, while keeping her space and proving that she'd gotten over the Commander. That had been her rough plan when Shepard had come through that door. Not to find herself begging for another kiss as she rode on Shepard's long fingers. While her blue fingers pressed into Jane, and then her mouth to taste the other woman. Not good enough.

The wrinkled clothes stayed on the Commander, even as Liara pushed her down to properly taste that warmth. How Jane had made a sound, of pleasure, groaning, and laughing at the sensation. At being able to do this.

_So long. _

Before the asari could even ask for clarification, a hand on the back of her head was directing her and then together they were testing the truth of these soundproof walls. Nails digging into her head and sure to leave unexplainable bruises. Her own hand touching herself, almost unnecessary from the force of their union. Redundant, but still wanted. She ended up sinking her teeth into Shepard's thigh as they could both only see blue in their blackness.

When she managed to open her eyes, Liara was reacquainted with the color grey and tan as she looked through the room. Then red blossoming. White. Blue above them.

The plants in her mother's garden had never been so green and alive as these eyes. She kissed the spot between them, delighting in the sensation of Shepard's eyebrows, the eyelashes brushing against her skin.

It felt wonderful to simply kiss that face. Feel the bones against her mouth, the soft skin moist with sweat. The scent of her hair. Her shiver.

Better really, to not talk about what she'd said to Shepard, through the meld. Safer. Liara could only imagine what Jane would say and do with that information, in the cold light of morning that was especially cruel in this expensive, lifeless apartment. Tomorrow, when Shepard would leave to throw herself on the mercy of fate in hopes of saving a galaxy that didn't want to heed her warnings. "I hope you didn't do this because you felt obligated?"

"Obligated? For what? Saving my life, literally helping bring me back from the dead?"

"For letting you spend the night."

"Yeah. I've been running low on credits lately and this seemed the cheapest way to get a roof over my head. That, and the free food."

"Of course. How could I think otherwise?"

"It's more comfortable here, than the couch. Not that the couch was bad. But this is nicer."

"You're rambling."

"Did you have something better to do with my mouth?"

Her smile felt more natural when her mouth was pressed into Jane's neck. "I suppose we have to catch up for lost time."

There was something fascinating, just in closing her eyes and listening to Shepard's strained breathing. "Will I get a complimentary breakfast in the morning?"

"Only if you decide to work for it. What, did you think I was letting you stay here for free? After all you ate?"

"Cruel. But I suppose it was a good meal. Especially dessert. If you catch my drift."

"Terrible, Shepard. I think I will just sit here and smoke a cigarette."

"Oh, come here. You know." A kiss again to her neck. Tomorrow, there were sure to be marks. "You know, I think I could make time in my schedule for a few more trips down to see such an important figure on Illium. For the mission you know. Vital resources to fight the Reapers."

"_Officially._ Of course, Commander Shepard."

"Of course, Doctor T'soni."

The following day, the only sign that anyone else had been in her apartment last night were the gift of bags of fish to be deposited in her aquarium, and the receipt she kept in her desk drawer for a year's supply of standard issue socks to be sent to a Commander Jane Shepard.


End file.
